The Gustavus men’s basketball team fended off Augsburg 63-56 Saturday afternoon in St. Peter for its fourth consecutive MIAC victory. The Gusties were led by senior Doug Espenson and junior Adam TeBrake who each had 17 points, while sophomore Phil Sowden had 11 points and 16 rebounds. Sowden’s previous career high for rebounds was 11 in a loss to St. Thomas last season. Sowden’s 16 rebounds was the most since Chad Henke in November of 2000. Gustavus improves to 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the MIAC, while Augsburg drops to 6-7 overall and 4-4 in the MIAC.

The Gusties were down 12-9 at the 10:58 mark of the first half. Gustavus went on a 9-0 run to claim the lead 18-12. Augsburg responded with a 13-7 run in the last 7:41 to tie the Gusties 25-25 at halftime. Gustavus was led in the first half by Adam TeBrake with ten points, while Phil Sowden added six points and ten rebounds. Augsburg was led by Dan Graf with ten points.

Gustavus started the first 2:35 of the second half on a 5-0 run (30-25) led by Doug Espenson who scored all of the Gusties points during this span. Augsburg responded with a 6-0 run to pull ahead 31-30 for their last lead of the game. Gustavus built its largest lead of the game (54-44) with 4:59 remaining. The Auggies pulled within 58-51 with 2:38 remaining. However, when Augsburg’s leading scorer Lucas Olson-Patterson fouled out with 3:54 to play, Augsburg would get no closer than seven points the rest of the game.

Gustavus shot 35 percent (21-of-60) from the field, 40 percent (6-of-15) from behind the three point arc, and 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the charity stripe for the game. The Auggies shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the three point line, and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the free throw line.

Head coach Mark Hanson reached a significant milestone in the game as he recorded his 292nd win at Gustavus. Hanson tied former head coach Whitey Skoog (1957-81) for most career coaching victories in Golden Gustie men’s basketball history.